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Friday, September 9, 2011

Changes!

I did see a massage therapist. In fact, I have seen her several times now, initially every week and now every two weeks. She works mostly on my legs but moves to wherever the need seems greatest. Yesterday she focused primarily on my right hip, the current bane of my existence. The Restless Leg Syndrome has decreased. It is still there but it is not as jolting and monstrous as it was. I manage, even without drugs, to get some sleep (although without drugs I still tend to wake frequently and even with drugs this is often true). I am not having long sleepless nights as I did before. As a result I have more energy. I am able to make little forays into parts of my home (cleaning and organizing) and go out in the world (errands) without feeling exhausted.
As for drugs. I did get a prescription for Requip, at a very low dosage (.25 mg), one per night. It helps me get to sleep but it does not keep me there. It does work, I repeat. I am relieved that I will have these with me when I am on a plane next week, not to mention when I am trying to get some sleep wherever I am. I do not want to be on drugs for the rest of my life so I will continue to look for alternative treatments. It does seem like massage helps. Maybe over time RLS will just become a vague memory.

2 comments:

Michelle said...

I'm glad the massage therapy is helping your RLS. What massage techniques is your therapist using?

Natural treatments can work wonders. Best of luck to you.

Judith Lautner said...

Michelle, she started out using trigger point but then moved to myofascial (sp?), which seems to be more effective for me. She uses a combination of techniques.